Top Gear’s Hennessey VelociRaptor: Exclusive Photoshoot

We’ve been out with a monster. No, wait, it’s a dinosaur. It is called the Hennessey VelociRaptor 600. It is the same truck that featured on Top Gear and was driven by Jeremy Clarkson, who along with James May in the film went out to save Richard Hammond who was stuck on top of a hill. Do you remember this video from a few posts back?

Well The Supercar Blog was able to tag along for the Colorado portion of filming! Check out the little video I made from our time in the mountains!

Normally when you head to the mountains you seek peace and quiet; being one with nature. Instead we had to enjoy nature and the awesome Hennessey VelociRaptor. Raw 600 horsepower meets Buena Vista, Colorado. Fun starts now!

We all know where this truck is famous from – Top Gear. Two trucks were made for the show and a few weeks back we (Robert Angelo from Roads & Rides and myself – Robert invited me along for the fun!) got to take it up into the mountains and tear through snow…lots and lots of snow!

The shoot was two full days in the mountains. This shoot was required for the Shell/Pennzoil advertisement; it was needed due to snow! The rest of the ad was filmed in Texas at Hennessey. Patrick from Hennessey drove the truck up from Texas. We gave it a good cleaning, and then we found some perfect locations.

We were a little concerned with the lack of snow we were finding but as we drove further up into the mountains we found the snow we were seeking. Soon we reached the end of the road. Not the ‘end’ per say but a two huge piles of snow blocking our way. Did that stop us? Nope.

We went to the local hardware store (only one of the few hardware stores in town) and got a shovel. We returned to the snow piles and proceeded to break down one pile to let the truck pass along with our gear car. Much sweating later we managed to get the truck and gear car around the piles to get farther up the road.

However, we did not get much far. When they block the road it is best to heed that warning. We met much deeper snow. Still, VelociRaptor took it in its stride and kept going. Ultimately, it was too much even for a 600 hp dinosaur. The good thing was we found enough roads to film what we needed.

Getting up before the sun is a must to catch what’s known as the “golden hour” in the morning. Just as we got all setup for the first shot, a snow storm rolled in. We lost sight of the beautiful mountains that were our backdrop. In true Colorado weather fashion the storm passed in a few minutes and we were back to the beautiful morning we started with. Gotta love the mountain weather!

With the scouting day behind us – the shooting day was a long day in the mountains. As you can see in the images and videos it was full of snow drift, mountain roads, lakes, and dirt roads. Sometimes to get the best shot we had to go knee deep (or even more!) in snow to make it happen. We had fun, that is for sure! Plus, a 14,000 foot mountain as our sunset background – could not ask for a better setting!

I was so happy to be a part of this experience and I thank Robert for letting me come along, work with Hennessey, and see the work he is doing – it’s fantastic! I was also happy with the content I created and I hope you all enjoy it as well!